01 January 2008

Exceeding all expectations

As it appears that I'm the first of us awake on this first morning of 2008, I'll also be the first to offer my thanks for the amazing generosity shown to us at last night's New Year's Eve party at Deano's Vino. Before I do that, however, I think my colleagues would agree with me when I say that we had an incredible time at the party and were truly heartened to see so many people turn out to celebrate the arrival of the new year with us (and sorry about the lack of live blogging last night--we figured no one was at home reading anyway, and we couldn't get the wireless to connect).

My thanks go to--

- faithful Hoosier Beer Geek readers and fellow beer geeks who came out last night. You are the reason we do what we do here at HBG, and we are extremely grateful for your camaraderie and support.

- my fellow Knights of the Beer Roundtable. I feel truly blessed to have become friends with you over the past year. Whether it's an argument with Jason over whether The Breakfast Club is a chick flick, a geeky chat with Matt about our mutual zombie movie fetish, a talk with Mike and Gina about Fulham Football Club, a discussion with Kelly about the best indie rock acts of the year, or a soliloquy by Chris on the finer points of a certain kind of cinema (ahem), you all keep me endlessly entertained. As Chris is fond of saying after having a few, "I love you, man!"

- Deano, Jody, Paul, Nick, Laura, and the rest of the Deano's Vino crew for hosting us. Your hospitality and, shall we say, unpredictability (in a good way, of course) always keep us coming back to you for more fun. And thanks especially to Deano for not showing his ass to the crowd as he did at Oktoberfest.

- Ted, Charlie, and everyone else at Brugge Beer for the Brugge swag and the phenomenal Sint Sylvester Vooranvond Ale. We all marveled at the silky and mellow drinkability of this outstanding blonde Belgian ale. A beer geek couldn't ask for better beer friends than you guys. You are brewers par excellence and a huge asset to the Indiana craft beer community.

- Bob Mack of World Class Beverages, who was our beer savior last night when he was able to procure more Delirium Tremens and Bell's Two Hearted Ale after the first kegs of these beers were blown. Bob, we owe you big time.

- DJ Brian Jones for spinning his trademark '80's punk and new wave hits for us and for packing the dance floor with partygoers. I think all will agree with me as I now dub Brian, "The Official DJ of Hoosier Beer Geek" (TM).

- lastly, Tyler Durden and Project Mayhem for providing us with the tagline for the night ("Welcome to Fight Club!"). Don't ask me why this became the tagline. I still don't understand it, but ask anyone who knows us or who has read our reviews and they'll tell you that we're bizarre like that. Maybe Kelly, who was the progenitor of this catch phrase, can give you some reason why we shouted this when people walked into the bar last night.

And of course, I've just broken the first two rules of Fight Club ("You DO NOT talk about Fight Club.").

KOTBR #90 - Medal Winners - We visit Barley Island and Brugge Brasserie in Broad Ripple to try some medal winning beers. Things get interesting when we are joined by some special guests, including Michael Phelps, Rob Halford, Glenn Danzig, and Brugge's very own Ted Miller.

Beer: The Pedal Pusher's Potion - Our first in depth feature receives support from Dogfish Head, Left Hand, Breckenridge Brewery, and Smuttynose, and draws in hits from hundreds of cyclists looking for a beer buzz.